


Reclaiming Oneself

by inkysplots



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Divorce, F/M, Magic, Post-War, Ron Weasley Bashing, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-31 14:06:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19427491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkysplots/pseuds/inkysplots
Summary: In a world of post-war arranged marriages, Hermione has had enough. She's done her time and wants to be free. A flyer to find your soulmate catches her eye, what does it involve and who will it be? Can she rediscover herself along the way?





	Reclaiming Oneself

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Hermione's Haven Bingo 2019., many thanks to the group admins for putting this together!
> 
> This story fulfils the B1 square, prompt: soulmates

Hermione had a sinking feeling in her stomach, not unlike when she was facing the sorting hat several years earlier. At least back then she had a tinge of excitement mixed in with the nerves and doubt - doubt she belonged, doubt she would be accepted - but this time, it was her entire future at stake.  
  
She glanced over at the flyers lining the hallway, her fingers tracing idle patterns on the well worn wooden bench as she read:  
  
_Ministry Decree_  
_  
In light of the post-war effort to repopulate the wizarding world, the Ministry is now offering annulments to those impacted by the Marriage Law. For an extra 20 galleons, we will perform a soulmate spell to match you with the witch, or wizard, of your dreams._

_*The Ministry has no liability for anything past the revelation of the soulmate, nor claims that the participant will live happily ever after. Might we suggest a love potion?_  
  
Hermione snorted as she read the last line, knowing full well how dangerous those potions were. Her eyes flicked to her wedding ring - simple and gold, a Weasley family heirloom. Ron had leapt at the chance to marry her following Voldemorts defeat, they were a perfect match for blood status purposes, and the Ministry was in such a hurry to repopulate that they cared not for the wellbeing of their subjects.  
  
Now, fifteen years later, Hermione had had enough. Rose and Hugo were almost old enough to go to Hogwarts, and they seemed to have inherited their mother’s emotional maturity. Hermione was determined to make the split amicable, even if Ron was acting more childishly than either of their children,  
  
He didn’t know she was getting an annulment today. So many marriages were done under dubious and shady circumstances, that if one could prove the marriage was under the orders of the Ministry, they would annul it, no questions asked.  
  
“Hermione Weasley?”

A voice from the other end of the corridor shook Hermione out of her thoughts, and she stood up to follow the petite blonde witch into her office.  
  
“Date of birth?”  
  
“19th September 1979,”  
  
“Date of marriage?”  
  
“December 21st, 1998”  
  
“Name of the spouse?”  
  
“Ronald Billius Weasley”  
  
“And the reason for separation?”  
  
“I thought this was no questions asked?” Hermione snapped at the witch. She held Hermione’s gaze briefly before making a mark on the form in front of her.  
  
“Take this, and in 4 minutes, you’ll be officially free of the magical constraints of your marriage-”

“Magical constraints?” Hermione was perplexed, nobody had said anything about this before  
  
“Your magic splits itself, some goes to maintaining the connection between you and your husband, some stays put for your normal activities. The weaker the bond, the more magic goes into it,”  
  
“Oh,” Hermione had no other answer for the witch.  
  
“And if you sign here once you’ve swallowed the pill, you’re legally unmarried,” Hermione paused, briefly realising that things would be much harder for her after this, then swallowed the pill with gusto, scribbling her name on the paper.  
  
“Are you here for the soulmate test too?” Hermione nodded and was ushered through a second door into an empty chamber.  
  
After what felt like an eternity had passed, and what Hermione realised later was only 4 and a half minutes, she felt something akin to pins and needles rush through her body. Her senses seemed to be in overdrive as she saw shadows in the room she hadn’t noticed before. Smells, like the ashes of a long doused fire at the far corner of the room, and the hints of jasmine in her own perfume she’d forgotten existed.  
  
She felt strong again like she had during the second war, and more than that, she liked it.  
  
“Are you ready to find out the name of your soulmate?” Hermione squinted in the dark but couldn’t make out more than the shadowy figures at the far end of the room  
  
“I think so?”  
  
“You think? Then you are not ready. Come back when you have the mental fortitude for this process,” Hermione bristled with indignation  
  
“I have fortitude!” She almost screamed into the void, the self-doubt washing over her again, and being fiercely shoved down by her newfound strength.

“Then pay your deposit and let us begin,” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the fifty galleons, which were promptly snatched away by a pale wisp of a hand,  
  
“And the other deposit,” The shadow's voice was deep and rich, and contained a hint of mirth at her foolishness.  
  
“What other deposit?” Despite her age, Hermione was transported back to a teenager in desperate need to know everything so she couldn’t be caught off guard. Her swell of magic seemingly lifted the lid on her emotions, emotions she’d kept locked deep for years.  
  
“Hold out your hand”  
  
A sharp sting flooded Hermione’s palm, crimson bubbling from the cut that had seemingly just been made.

“You cut me!”  
  
“That is the price you pay for true love,” Hermione's scepticism was starting to kick in. Why did she need some mystical figure to help her with her life? Wasn’t this just divination, but with more pomp and circumstance? She turned to leave.  
  
“You don’t believe us. You have projected your own self-doubt onto everyone else and dismissed it in hand. When are you going to reach deep down and take a leap of faith?”  
  
Hermione stopped, the words resonating in her head over and over. Something inside her told her that they were right, plus, as her brain rationalised, nobody would know if she did it. She could maintain her dignity and moe in the normal way, and see what this performance was all about.  
  
“Alright, I’m in,”  
  
“For the wrong reasons my dear, but very well,”

A set of coloured lights surrounded her - Hermione tried to match them with spells, but they matched no spells she knew. The lights danced and changed colours imperceptibly, reminding her of a muggle disco ball and a disastrous first kiss with a boy whose name she had forgotten...Malcolm? Mike?  
  
“Clear your mind, Hermione, this won’t work if you’re reminiscing about flames long gone. Think of you, what do you need, desire, crave?”  
  
Hermione closed her eyes and her thoughts drifted towards her books. Elegant quills, perfumed ink in a myriad of colours, notebooks with so many different styles of lines. And then her heart took over.  
  
The comfort of a persons embraces, the smell of a person that was uniquely them, even after a day of hard labour and toil. A laugh, so pure and genuine that it was infectious to all those around it. Smiles that reached eyes, and didn’t stop with the tugging of a lip upwards. Understanding of her need to research and control situations as the world spiralled out of control behind her.  
  
The lights were uncomfortably close now, opening her eyes made Hermione see spots and almost wobble over, so she clamped them shut. Behind her eyelids, she could see the brightness increase and felt her magic pull away from her in a sharp tug.

“No! I only just got it back,” But her magic would not listen, ripping itself from her and joining the light that was now cocooning her fully.  
  
And then, with an almighty force so powerful that it knocked Hermione clean off her feet, she felt her magic return. But it was different, she thought, although thinking with a head that had been knocked into a stone wall was proving difficult.  
  
The lights in the room came up, and Hermione saw two figures standing by an extinguished fireplace. One, an extremely slender witch, with skin as pale as ice. She was the one who took the money, Hermione mused. Dressed in a long black robe similar to the willowy witch, was a man Hermione vaguely recognised.  
  
“I know you?” The man shook his head.  
  
“A glamour. To make you feel more comfortable. We have better success rates with people who see a somewhat familiar face, so we take several people you know, and mix them together,” Hermione’s brain simply refused to process this information, so she stared at him like a slack-jawed first year.  
  
“How hard did I hit my head?” There would be a nasty bruise on the back of her head tomorrow, she was sure of it.  
  
“Your blood is your very, non-magical, essence. We need that and your magic to correctly find your soulmate. I’d be happy to explain in more detail at the follow-up appointment in a few weeks,”  
  
“Is that when I get the name?”  
  
“No. It’s a post-magic removal evaluation. Even though we gave you your magic back, there could be unintended side effects,”  
  
“Your flyer said nothing about-” Hermione was cut off by the bubbles streaming for her outstretched finger, poised to wag at the mystery man. “Oh, I see,”

The man chuckled and conferred quietly with the witch next to him.  
  
“You want the name, yes?”  
  
“Of course I do!” Hermione was handed a sheet of paper, and a warning list of possible side effects of the spell, including magical diarrhoea, much to Hermione’s disgust.  
  
She unfurled the paper with her soulmates name on it, her derision riding high.  
  
_Dear Ms Granger,_

_We are delighted to inform you that after thorough magical evaluation, and incorporating a variety of factors, we have deduced your magical soulmate._  
  
_We hope that you will be very happy together, and wish you the best in your future endeavours._  
  
_This parchment will now Portkey you to your soulmates current location!_  
  
_Sincerely,_  
  
_Juliana Velgrost_  
  
Hermione felt the familiar tug somewhere around her stomach, and in her panic, tried to claw herself out of the Portkey suction. She would later realise that her frantic attempts to avoid the Portkey made her landing all the more uncoordinated, however, there really is no c-ordinated way to end up in the lap of one Harry Potter.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
